kimmy

Applying for a CRTC broadcasting license probably does not qualify as lobbying. -k

Are you sure? It seems like several people in this thread are denying it... Which complaint? The thread started with a conspiracy theory that the Conservatives are going to kill the CBC and give the money to Quebecor to create a right-wing propaganda network. We've also got the claim that a Fox North would be "too polarizing". I mean, it doesn't seem to me like "the right" are the ones complaining here. Well, conservative-thinking viewers will be able to assess their options and pick which network they want to watch. If not enough people watch Fox North, then it'll flounder and die. If not enough people watch the CBC it'll continue in exactly the same state as it exists right now. -k

The reports I have read have focused on the trivial (Jamie Bacon can't see the TV from his bed, tee hee) and glossed over the more serious claims. I don't care if Bacon can watch Coronation Street in bed, but I find it troubling that Bacon was placed in solitary without cause, has been denied access to his lawyer, that the pre-trial facility staff have been acting as agents of the police, and most appallingly that they have been recording his conversations with his lawyer. I couldn't care less about Bacon himself, but I don't like the larger picture. This seems like part of an ongoing pattern by the RCMP. -k

(link to article) The Bacon brothers are drug thugs and their targets were also drug thugs. Some would suggest that the best thing would be to give the Bacon boys a fresh clip of ammo and tell them to get back to work. If it was just another of Vancouver's ongoing strings of drug gang assassinations, I doubt people would give it much thought, but in this case it sounds like they killed people who weren't actually involved in the drug war, so they're in for it. However... ...you can't do that. That they "accidentally" monitored his communications with ranks with "I didn't realize the tazer went off 5 times". If the RCMP want to get people's respect again, they should stop saying stupid crap and start obeying their own rules. -k

When Al-Jazeera arrived in Canada, was there a similar outcry? I honestly can't recall it. The only complaints about bias I can recall went something along the lines of "they won't license Fox, but they'll license Al Jazeera?!" For those disputing a CBC bias: the CBC has provided or continues to provide time slots for left-leaning journalists like Anna Maria Tremonti and Avi Lewis, as well as "documentaries" from people like Naomi Klein and Roger Moore and Al Gore. Can you provide examples of balancing programming that has aired on CBC? -k

I wouldn't say he is a typical North American leftist. I think he's about as left a leftist as you can find in the public sphere North America. (though, I don't know if he's still in the public sphere... I think he is now with Al Jazeera English, which would mean he's about as much in the North American public sphere as you or I.) I'm sure he was looking at it as a chance to take her on. His description of her as a "born-again America-booster" particularly telling: if you're on the far left, "born-again" and "America-booster" are two of the meanest things you could possibly say about somebody. In his introduction, he goes on to try to diminish her by suggesting that it's her personal story, not what she's saying, that people are interested in. Clearly he went into this with the idea that she was an adversary, and that he could score some points by taking her down. -k

However, I suspect that people from all parties visit forums like this on a regular basis as an informal way of gauging public opinion. (they'd be foolish not to.) We've also seen this message board (and others like it, I'm sure) used by party supporters as a means of getting a party viewpoint out. -k

I don't think it's a question of stupid. I am not sure that Quebec voters know whether Canadian's leaders would have the resolve to say no to some kind of "sovereignty-association" arrangement. (I myself am not sure that Canadian's leaders would have the resolve to say no to some kind of sovereignty-association arrangement.) In the past, Quebec voters have been promised that saying yes to sovereignty doesn't mean separation and that they wouldn't have to give up things they like. I suspect that many Quebec voters still believe they could approach sovereignty like a buffet. I hope that whenever another separation referendum comes around, Canada has a leader who will make it clear to them that Canada will not agree to some sort of semi-attached arrangement. I would not want this question to be part of a federal election. It is a matter for Quebec voters, and being part of a federal election would ensure that it dominated discussion election coverage from coast-to-coast to the detriment of other issues. -k

You gave up the chance to see Mao's Last Dancer to see the end of Get Him To The Greek? Based on your view that the value of something can be measured by what somebody is willing to give up to obtain it, we know that your praise for this movie is sincere. Your comments made me think of Roger Ebert's review of Kingpin, which concludes: This sort of movie is often looked down on as garbage by people who like "serious" movies; I believe Ebert put Kingpin on his top-10 list for that year, because he thought it was that funny. -k

I guess I found the video funny mostly because it agrees with a viewpoint I already had: that the flotilla was a situation designed from the start to force Israel into a situation that would result in a P.R. nightmare. If I didn't already have that viewpoint, I doubt the video would have persuaded me otherwise, and I probably wouldn't have found it very funny either. -k

(Did I just read a political opinion piece by someone named "Mr Wrestling IV"?) I suspect she gets asked stuff like that all the time and has stock answers ready. The interview August posted in another thread, where Avi Lewis attempts to press her on how Muslim extremists who blow up subways are different from Christian extremists who shoot abortion doctors, provides an example of how deftly she deals with predictable questions. -k

I'm not afraid of another referendum in Quebec. Just as long as it is made clear: Canada is not going to enter into some kind of semi-kinda BS arrangement where Quebec still gets access to Canada's resources. If Quebec's pro-separation side starts talking about "sovereignty association" or any such thing, Canada needs to make it very clear that separation means none of that. The separatists can promote the idea that they can pick and chose what benefits of being in Canada they can keep, but Canada's leaders must make it very clear that they are incorrect. Separation means separate. Your own country. Not one red cent, evermore. If it is made clear that sovereignty is not a buffet where you can chose some of this and some of that, and Quebec voters still vote for separation, then good for them. I wish them well. -k

I'm curious as to why they chose downtown Toronto. I would have to think that a more isolated location would be easier to keep secure, and there's no place in the country less isolated than downtown Toronto. I also have to wonder at the decision to have 2 sites. It seems obvious that one site would have been more economical. It seems like cost was not a consideration in coming up with these plans. -k

By far the most surprising part of this is learning that Wells Fargo was actually in Canada. -k

Is this part of a long term scheduled capital expenditure plan that the military has in place? I mean, Harper didn't just reach into his pocket and say "here you go, head on down to the mall and buy something nice," right? -k

He's probably still a douchebag. I'll update you tomorrow. -k

Those are all great. But to me, the funniest part of all of this is that it's the lake that seems to have gotten people all riled up. I mean, they're going to blow $930 million (right?) to host a 3-day wank-fest... and people are upset that they're spending $2 million on a fake lake? You know what? I'm glad we get a fake lake. I'd be upset if we were blowing $930 million on this event and didn't at least have a fake lake to show for it. These names for the fake lake are the only bright side to this whole fiasco, which would be an unmitigated disaster if not for the serendipity of Lake ShamWow. As a matter of fact, I hope they spend another $2 million and build a fake iceberg and some animatronic polar bears. We're at $930 million already, why not make it $932 million and have some fun? In fact, why not spend another $2 million after that, and build some fake teepees and fake totem poles and get some native dancers. I mean, what's another $2 million when you've already blown $930? In fact, why not go for an even billion? We could have fake lakes, fake icebergs, fake mountains, fake prairies, maybe a little fake Peggy's Cove... We could hire unemployed people to be fake cowboys and fake fishermen and fake voyageurs... we could build a whole mini fake Canada right there on the shores of Lake Ontario. I mean, why not? It would be fun. With $930 million down the tubes already, what's left to lose? -k

I work with a construction crew 40 hours a week. Foul language doesn't worry me too much. -k {also, the guy really *was* a douchebag.}

It's been over 3 hours since the phrase "douchebag" was uttered in my presence! -k

Seal's facial scars are a result of a childhood illness, not any sort of baboonery. -k

Good point, she probably would have ended up in front of a Human Rights Commission. -k